Abstract OT2-01-06: Phase II trial of palbociclib plus endocrine therapy followed by combination of pembrolizumab, palbociclib and endocrine therapy in patients with hormone receptor positive metastatic breast cancer
Authors: Yuan Yuan, Colt A. Egelston, Weihua Guo, Susan E. Yost, Paul H. Frankel, Christopher Ruel, Mireya Murga, Aileen Tang, Norma Martinez, Daniel Schmolze, Daphne Stewart, James Waisman, Kelly Yap, Joanne Mortimer, Niki Tank
Journal: Cancer Research (2023)

Abstract Background: The combination of CDK4/6 inhibitors (CDK4/6i) and endocrine therapy (ET) is standard-of-care for patients with hormone receptor positive (HR+) HER2- metastatic breast cancer (MBC). Immune modulatory effects of CDK4/6i are well documented preclinically but poorly understood in the clinical setting. Our previous study combining letrozole, palbociclib and pembrolizumab in patients with HR+ MBC (NCT02778685) showed a promising complete response rate of 31%. Dynamic changes in peripheral blood mononuclear cell (PBMC) subpopulations indicated that palbociclib may increase CD8+ TEMRA (terminally differentiated effector memory cells) and CD4+ TEM (effector memory cells) and enable immune activation. The current cohort 3 was designed to study the immune modulatory effect of palbociclib as an immune-priming agent with a biomarker enriched design. Methods: Women with ECOG 0-1, HR+ HER2- MBC, RECIST 1.1 measurable disease, no prior therapy for MBC were enrolled. Patients with endocrine therapy, including aromatase inhibitor +/- ovarian suppression or fulvestrant, were eligible. A palbociclib + ET lead-in design was used, starting on day -28 followed by combination therapy with pembrolizumab added on C1D1. Peripheral blood and tumor biopsy at baseline and on-treatment were collected to allow in-depth analysis of biomarkers predicting response to the combination. The primary endpoint was to evaluate if the palbociclib potentiated immune responses as a “priming” agent through PBMC analysis and on treatment tumor biopsy. Secondary endpoints included other immune cell subsets and changes that follow the combination with pembrolizumab. With 25 patients, assuming a standard deviation of 0.51 in the relative change in classic monocytes in PBMCs, there is 90% power to detect a relative change of log(C1D1/baseline) of 34.5% with a type I error (two-sided) of 0.05. Results: Between August 2020 and April 2022, 16 patients were enrolled in cohort 3. Currently 11 patients have adverse event (AEs) and 16 patients have response data. Median age was 57 years (39-72). 8/11 (73%) were non-Hispanic white, 1/11 (9%) Hispanic, 1/11 (9%) Asian, and 1/11 (9%) African American. 87% patients had grade 3 AEs, and 30% had grade 4 AEs. Grade 3 AEs were 9/11 (82%) neutropenia, 5/11 (45%) leukopenia, 1/11 (9%) elevated LFTs, and 1/11 (9%) each lymphopenia, hot flashes, febrile neutropenia, and pneumonitis. Grade 4 AEs were 1/11 (9%) lymphopenia. 8/16 (50%) patients achieved a partial response (PR), 5/16 (31%) had stable disease (SD), and 1/16 (6%) had progression of disease (PD) by RECIST 1.1. Additionally, 2/16 (13%) patients were too early to determine best overall response. Response rate (CR+PR) was 50%. PBMCs and tumor microenvironment profiling are ongoing. Conclusion: The combination of palbociclib, pembrolizumab and ET is well tolerated, and a response rate of 50% was identified in HR+ MBC patients who received this combination as front-line therapy. Dynamic changes in peripheral blood mononuclear cells and tumor microenvironment profiling are ongoing. Citation Format: Yuan Yuan, Colt A. Egelston, Weihua Guo, Susan E. Yost, Paul H. Frankel, Christopher Ruel, Mireya Murga, Aileen Tang, Norma Martinez, Daniel Schmolze, Daphne Stewart, James Waisman, Kelly Yap, Joanne Mortimer, Niki Tank. Phase II trial of palbociclib plus endocrine therapy followed by combination of pembrolizumab, palbociclib and endocrine therapy in patients with hormone receptor positive metastatic breast cancer [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 2022 San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium; 2022 Dec 6-10; San Antonio, TX. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2023;83(5 Suppl):Abstract nr OT2-01-06.